Can You Expunge a DUI in Ohio? Sealing, CQE, and Pardons

You cannot expunge a DUI in Ohio. The state calls the offense OVI, and Ohio’s record-sealing statute specifically excludes every conviction under Chapter 4511 of the Revised Code, which is where OVI lives.¹ An OVI conviction stays on your record for life. That said, if your case ended without a conviction, or if you pleaded down to a lesser offense, different rules apply and sealing may still be possible.

Why Ohio Bars Sealing an OVI Conviction

The record-sealing statute lists categories of convictions that can never be sealed, and traffic offenses under Chapter 4511 sit at the top of that list.¹ OVI and physical control violations both fall inside that chapter. A motion to seal an OVI conviction will be denied.

Two terms get used interchangeably but mean different things in Ohio. Sealing hides a record from most public background checks, though law enforcement and certain government agencies can still see it. Expungement, in the strict sense, means the record is destroyed. Neither is available for an OVI conviction.

The practical result is that the conviction remains visible to employers, landlords, licensing boards, and anyone else running a standard background check, indefinitely.

When an OVI-Related Record Can Still Be Sealed

The statutory bar covers convictions. If your OVI case ended some other way, the record of the case may be sealable.

Dismissed Charges and Not Guilty Findings

If your OVI charge was dismissed or you were acquitted, you can apply to seal the record under Ohio Revised Code 2953.52.² There is no mandatory waiting period. You can file at any time after the dismissal or not guilty finding is entered.

This matters because the arrest and charge still show up on a background check unless you affirmatively ask the court to seal them. Getting a case dismissed does not clean the record on its own.

Plea Reductions to Reckless Operation

A common OVI outcome is a plea to reckless operation, sometimes called a wet reckless. When that happens, the OVI charge is dismissed and you are convicted of the lesser traffic offense. A 2021 change to Ohio law created a narrow exception that allows a traffic conviction to be sealed when it accompanies dismissed charges in the same case, provided the traffic conviction is not itself an OVI or physical control offense. Defense attorneys have used this provision to seal reckless operation convictions arising from OVI reductions. Prosecutors often oppose these applications, and outcomes depend on the judge.

Diversion Is Not an Option for OVI

Ohio’s statutory diversion program, Intervention in Lieu of Conviction, leads to a dismissal on successful completion. The statute explicitly excludes OVI from eligibility.³ Some local courts run informal diversion programs that may accept OVI cases, but those vary by jurisdiction and are not guaranteed to exist where you live.

Sealing Other Convictions When You Already Have an OVI

An OVI on your record does not disqualify you from sealing unrelated eligible convictions. Ohio recently removed that barrier, so a separate misdemeanor or felony that otherwise qualifies can still be sealed even if you also have an OVI.⁴

Waiting periods run from your final discharge (completion of jail time, probation, community service, and payment of fines):

Minor misdemeanors: six months
Misdemeanors and fourth- or fifth-degree felonies: one year
Third-degree felonies (limit of two): three years¹

How the Sealing Process Works

Whether you are sealing a dismissed OVI or a separate eligible offense, the process is similar. File an application with the clerk of the court that heard your case, provide your case information and confirm no criminal proceedings are pending against you.²

For sealing a conviction (not an OVI, but a separate eligible one), the state filing fee is $50, plus up to $50 in local fees. Multiple cases can be combined into a single application without extra per-case charges, and a poverty affidavit can waive the fee.⁵ The non-conviction sealing statute does not fix a filing fee, but individual courts may charge their own.

The court sets a hearing and notifies the prosecutor, who can object. At the hearing, the judge weighs your interest in sealing against any legitimate government reason to keep the record open. Courts tend to be receptive to sealing dismissed charges and not guilty findings because no conviction was ever entered. If the judge grants the application, a sealing order issues and the record leaves public view.

Alternatives When the Conviction Stays

An OVI conviction that cannot be sealed still has two workarounds that reduce its impact.

Certificate of Qualification for Employment

A Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE) does not hide the conviction, but it removes the automatic bars that many licensing boards and employers apply to people with criminal records. With a CQE, those decision-makers must evaluate you individually rather than reject you on the record alone. The certificate also gives employers some protection against negligent hiring claims.⁶

You can apply six months after finishing your full sentence for a misdemeanor, or one year after for a felony. The application goes through Ohio’s reentry portal, is reviewed by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and is then submitted to the Court of Common Pleas in your county. The court has up to 60 days to decide.⁶

Governor’s Pardon

A pardon from the Ohio governor is rare but possible. The state’s Expedited Pardon Project focuses on older convictions and requires that you have not committed any additional crimes, including OVI, in at least the past ten years. A granted pardon results in the record being sealed. This is the only route that can actually remove an OVI from public view after the fact, and the process is long with no guaranteed outcome.

What a Permanent OVI Record Means in Practice

Because the conviction cannot be cleared, three consequences worth knowing tend to follow people for a long time.

Commercial drivers face federal disqualification. A first OVI conviction disqualifies you from operating a commercial motor vehicle for one year, or three years if you were hauling hazardous materials. A second offense means lifetime disqualification, and the arrest does not need to have occurred in a commercial vehicle.⁷

Travel to Canada gets complicated. Since December 2018, a single DUI or OVI conviction can make an American inadmissible to Canada under its serious criminality provisions.⁸ A Temporary Resident Permit allows entry for a specific trip; Criminal Rehabilitation permanently resolves the inadmissibility once you are five years past completing your sentence. Because Ohio cannot seal the underlying conviction, Canadian officers will keep seeing it at the border.

Military enlistment requires disclosure. The Department of Defense treats impaired driving as a misconduct offense for enlistment purposes.⁹ One misconduct offense does not automatically require a waiver; two do, and any offense the convicting jurisdiction labels a felony is treated as major misconduct. Individual branches add their own rules. And military background checks reach federal databases that show sealed and expunged records, so even a sealed related charge must be disclosed during enlistment.

1
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.32 – Sealing of Record of Conviction
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.52 – Sealing Record of Not Guilty Finding or Dismissed Complaint, Indictment, or Information
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2951.041 – Intervention in Lieu of Conviction
4
Supreme Court of Ohio. Adult Rights Restoration and Record Sealing
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2953.32 – Sealing of Record of Conviction
6
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Certificate of Qualification for Employment
7
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
8
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Inadmissibility
9
eCFR. 32 CFR 66.7 – Enlistment Waivers